Wheeljack's Quest
by Goldenrod
Summary: ArmadaThis little trilogy's just a little thought I had on what I hoped would happen to Wheeljack in the TV series. Mind you, this was written before I saw the end of Armada.
1. Truth and Lies

Disclaimer: I don't own the Transformers.

Chapter Summary: When Wheeljack finds out a painful truth, will he risk his life to save the Decepticon's prisoner, Hotshot?

* * *

He had come to the planet Earth seeking revenge. The one he wanted the spark of was the one he thought he could trust; one who was his friend and comrade. But, that all changed when he was left for dead that fateful day on Cybertron; the day when Hotshot left his side, claiming he was going for help, but was only saving his own skin. Wheeljack would never forget that day. Even though years had passed since that time, every once in a while he would have nightmares of that day. Nightmares of the fear he experienced while being trapped under debris, unable to pull himself out and surrounded by flames that threatened to engulf him and calling for help. 'I will have my revenge,' he thought to himself as he stared at the blue and green planet, 'Mark my words, Hotshot, I will get my revenge on you.' Just then, the Minicon alarm started blaring.

Meanwhile, on Earth, Hotshot was sitting on the chair in his quarters at the Autobot base. He had been there ever since he was done training with Sideswipe for the day, and that was about an hour ago. For some reason or another, he couldn't stop thinking about what led his old friend, Wheeljack, to join the other side. 'And, I thought I had put it behind me,' he said to himself. After all, he did agree that their friendship was over shortly after Wheeljack arrived. Suddenly, he heard a familiar beeping sound. It was Jolt, seated on his recharge berth. The Minicon beeped some more as he cocked his head to the side. "Oh, nothing really," Hotshot replied to Jolt's question about what was up, "just thinking, that's all." Immediately, the Minicon alarm goes off.

A battle ensues at the latest Minicon site. During the fight, Tidal Wave unleashes a powerful barrage of lasers right at the spot where Hotshot and Optimus are hiding. Both robots are unhurt, but their boulder's gone and the huge Decepticon's heading right for them. "Quick," calls Optimus, "into the trees," and they run into the wooded area of the field with Tidal Wave right behind them.

"What good is this gonna do, Optimus," called Hotshot, who was right behind Optimus.

"The trees get denser further down," Prime explained, "if we can just get into that area, we might be able to double back to the battlefield without Tidal Wave noticing." After five minutes of running, Hotshot couldn't help but notice that the sound of the giant's footsteps seemed to be getting louder. He dared to take a peek behind his back.

"Optimus," he called again, despite the fact he was almost out of breath, "he's gaining on us."

"Just keep running, it's our only chance," Optimus called back. 'We're almost there,' he said to himself, they had to make it to the deeper part of the forest. Tidal Wave was getting tired of running, so he made his move; he lunged his left arm forward, and reached for Hotshot. Hotshot cried out as he felt something grab his left leg and pull. Optimus heard Hotshot's voice call his name, stopped running, and turned around. "Hotshot!" the Autobot leader exclaimed with concern. The titanic Decepticon had Hotshot by the leg and the yellow mech was hanging upside down. Worst of all, there wasn't really anything he could do to help his friend. 'It's times like this I feel so helpless,' he said to himself, feeling both scared and frustrated.

Hotshot instinctively struggled in the Decepticon's grasp until he found himself facing him. "Now I know how a caught fish feels like when it's being examined by a fisherman," he said aloud to himself. With a low chuckle, Tidal Wave trained all of his weapons onto his captive. Hotshot could see the lasers building up inside the barrels, ready to fire. Optimus had had enough; he had do something and he had to do it now.

Just when the Autobot leader was about to make his move, Megatron's voice called out from somewhere in the distance, "Decepticons, withdraw."

Just as Tidal Wave warped out, with his Autobot prisoner still in his grasp, Hotshot called as he reached out a hand, "Optimus!"

"No!" Optimus gasped, and he ran towards the Decepticon, "Hotshot!" But, before he could catch up with them, they were gone.

At their moon-base, the Decepticons began appearing in their Warpgate one by one. Megatron was not in the best of moods right now, so his soldiers thought it best to keep their distance and only speak when they were spoken to. But, that seemed to change when Tidal Wave warped in and Megatron turned to face him. "Mmm, not bad work, Tidal Wave," he commented. Looking confused, Tidal Wave looked at his hand and noticed he was still holding Hotshot.

"I guess I forgot," the giant replied. Hotshot, on the other hand, had just about enough of this.

"Let go of me," he demanded as he started struggling again.

"Do what he says, Tidal Wave," Megatron encouraged.

"Really?" asked the bewildered giant.

"Really," his leader confirmed, with a nod accompanied by a wicked smile. Tidal Wave then threw Hotshot toward a wall. The Autobot collided into it with a loud crashing sound and a force that nearly shook the entire room.

He could've sworn that he barely heard Megatron say something like, "Cyclonus, Demolisher." And, the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was two forms heading right for him.

Back at the Autobot base, Red Alert and the Minicons were doing their best to repair the Autobots as quickly, yet as efficiently, as possible. When Prime told them that Hotshot was taken captive, they all wanted to go after the Decepticons right then and there. But, Optimus made the point that they were not in the best of shape for a rescue mission; many of them had sustained some damage from their previous battle, and Red Alert and Scavenger backed him up. So, reluctantly, the other Autobots warped back to base. While his soldiers were receiving their repairs, Optimus was in the Command Center, trying to formulate a plan and hoping that Megatron hadn't decided to turn the young soldier into scrap metal yet. That's when the kids came in. "Yo, Optimus," Rad called as he hopped off of Highwire.

"Hello, kids," Optimus greeted.

"We hear you guys managed to get another Minicon," said Carlos.

"Yes, Carlos, we did," the Autobot leader confirmed.

"All right," Fred cheered.

"Way ta go," Billy joined in. However, Alexis noticed that Optimus looked a little far off, like there was something on his mind.

"What's up, Optimus?" she asked.

"Nothing much," he fibbed. He didn't like it when he had to do that, but he knew if kids knew there was going to be a rescue mission in order soon, they'd want to help, and he didn't want them to get hurt.

But, Alexis wouldn't be put off that easily, "C'mon Optimus, I know something's up in that head of yours." Prime gave a low chuckle, sometimes he underestimated how smart Alexis really was.

"I'm that transparent, am I?" he asked.

"I can practically see the gears in your head turning," she replied with a triumphant smile. And so, Optimus gave in and told the kids about Hotshot's abduction.

"Now, before you say anything," he said quickly as soon as he was done, "I'm afraid I'll have to say no, the rescue plan will not include you kids coming with us."

'Darn,' Billy said to himself as he snapped his fingers.

"But, we didn't say anything," said Carlos.

"You didn't have to," replied Optimus.

"Optimus," Rad spoke up, and Optimus turned to him, "we know you won't let us come with you guys to the moon, but we still want to do our part in this rescue mission in any we can."

"Yeah," Alexis agreed, "don't forget, Hotshot's our friend, too." Optimus nodded, fully understanding what Rad was saying.

"So," Fred spoke up, "even though we can't go with you, is there anything else we can do to help?"

"We'll see, Fred," Optimus replied, "first, I have to think of a plan."

Meanwhile, on the moon, the Decepticons had secured their prisoner. Because he was still unconscious, Megatron told his men to rest themselves up from their last battle; he wanted to talk to the Autobot when we awoke on his own. For Starscream, that was a relief, he needed some time to think. True, the Autobot wasn't too fond of accepting him into his team's ranks at first, but that changed when his friend didn't end up dying after all. In fact, when the Autobots suspected him of taking the Skyboom Shield Minicons, Hotshot was the only one who came to his defense, claiming the Decepticon was innocent till proven guilty. Hotshot even tried to help him by asking him to tell him his side of the story of the incident; the problem was, Starscream didn't tell him anything, believing there was no point in trying to defend himself since it looked like the jury had already declared him guilty. And, it was his silence that caused the Autobots to suspect him even more. Still, Hotshot told them to get off his back. No one had ever done that for him before, no one had ever came to his defense anymore than he had ever received a gift from anyone. He had never expected anyone, least of all an Autobot, to do anything kind to him. However, Starscream wasn't sure what to do now that Hotshot was their prisoner. A part of him wanted to help the Autobot escape while the other half just wanted to let his brethren do whatever they wanted with him, and he had a pretty good idea of what that was and that it would be very painful, to the Autobot at least. Why did he want to help Hotshot? 'Because I feel I owe him,' he answered to himself. But, that only ended up getting countered with, 'What are you talking about? You don't owe him anything, so quit being a softy, let the others have their fun with him, and have some too, like you did before.' And, Starscream didn't like to be thought of as a softy in front of the other Decepticons.

While the Autobots were being repaired, Optimus was trying to formulate a rescue plan, and Starscream was pondering his decision, Wheeljack was in his quarters going over some personal documents on his computer. He personally couldn't wait until he would have his turn with Hotshot, like Megatron promised. He would finish what he started that day at the abandoned factory. "'Ello," he said a little surprised, "what's this?" He accidentally stumbled across a High Class file. Computer files of this nature were the equivalent of a 'Confidential' file on Earth. "Mmm, lets just take a little peek," said Wheeljack, curiosity getting the best of him, and he hacked into the file. Not only was the file about him, it turned out it was created and entered into the Decepticon Archives personally by Megatron. Intrigued, Wheeljack began to read it, only to twenty minutes later, wish he hadn't. All of these years, Wheeljack thought Megatron actually saved him that fateful day on Cybertron out of the goodness of his heart. However, that was not the case, as Wheeljack discovered. It turned out that Megatron, due to the battle that occurred before he got trapped under a pile of rubble, also recognized the potential Wheeljack possessed, just like Fortress Maximus did. When Hotshot left him behind, it only gave Megatron the opportunity he needed to gain the young Autobot's trust and give Wheeljack a reason to willingly join the Decepticons- to destroy the ones who abandoned him. All he had to do was mix that raw potential with pure rage and hate, and he succeeded there as well. Wheeljack had fallen for the trick, hook, line, and sinker. Unfortunately, that was not all that was in the report. It turned out that Megatron also noted that once Wheeljack outlived his usefulness, the Decepticon leader would do to him what he did to other soldiers he didn't need anymore. Remembering the incident with Starscream, Wheeljack needed only one guess as to what that meant. 'I don't believe this,' Wheeljack said to himself disbelievingly, 'This can't be real'. But, judging how the report was written, he knew it was Megatron's work because he'd seen reports written by the leader before. "I've go to get more information on this," he quietly said aloud to himself. Closing out of the file, he got to work on some hacking.

Wheeljack managed to hack his way into the Autobot's computerized file archive, found the one he was looking for, and carefully read through it. There, he learned all about their platoon leader giving the order to leave the scene without him, Hotshot trying to get through fellow soldiers and disobeying orders attempting to go back into the fire to get him, and him being presumed dead when they couldn't find him. "It explains some things," Wheeljack mused to himself, "but not very much." He paused for a moment, absorbing all of this new, incredible information. "So," he said to himself aloud, disbelief in his voice, "all of this time, I was being used, manipulated? How do I know what's true? How do I know what to believe?" All of a sudden, Wheeljack saw a rock lying on the floor. He was still pondering the answers to his own questions as he picked it up without really thinking about it. The intensity of this revelation was too much, he crushed the rock into dust with a crunch. When he did, something from his past came to his mind, someone asking, "If you can't trust your heart, who or what can you believe?" That someone was Hotshot. 'That's it," he snapped his fingers, and he exited the room, heading for D-sector.

D-sector was where Hotshot had been kept for the last hour and a half. When Wheeljack entered the room, he found that Hotshot was strapped down to a table by belt-like metal clamps that gripped his ankles, wrists and waist, and upper arms and chest. The Autobot lifted his head when he heard the doors hiss open, but didn't say anything to the Decepticon. Wheeljack approached the table, almost hesitantly, thought Hotshot. "You're in a bit early," Hotshot said with a low voice.

"I'm here because I was hoping you could provide me with some information," Wheeljack reluctantly admitted. When Hotshot looked at him with a confused expression, he told Hotshot of his discovery.

"And, what have I got to do with this?" Hotshot suspiciously asked.

"Hotshot," Wheeljack began to plead, "I need to know, and I need to hear it from you; what happened on that day on Cybertron?" Hotshot wasn't sure what it was, but something about Wheeljack's behavior just seemed to tell him how sincere his former friend really was. That's why he found himself telling Wheeljack everything he knew: finding Wheelie and Zaaron, their platoon leader; fighting through the two 'Bots to go back for him; Zaaron's court marshal threat; his passing out from the heat of the fire; waking up in the base repair bay; his emotional pain and guilt; and being placed under Optimus' direct command after he recovered.

"So, you see Wheeljack, I learned a lot that day. I just wish it didn't have to turn out the way it did. I realized that I should've stayed by your side, even if it meant we'd both perish; and, even though I did it with the best of intentions, still, by leaving you behind I only ended up putting you in an even worse situation. Even to this day, I still can't believe I left you trapped and alone, and surrounded by those flames when you needed me the most."

All of this time, Wheeljack just sat in a chair he pulled up and listened. All of these years, he thought Hotshot abandoned him without looking back. However, as he found out, Hotshot actually tried to go back for him, like he promised he would. In fact, if the Autobot rescue team didn't find him when they did, there's the possibility that Hotshot could've died in that fire while he was unconscious. He couldn't believe that he hated Hotshot all of this time for something he never did and that Megatron, who he had looked up to and to whom he believed he owed his life, had manipulated him into joining the enemy. He got up and headed for the door. He needed to be alone, to try and sort out this new information. Without thinking about it, he turned to glance at Hotshot, who just stared back at him. He didn't need to hear the words, Hotshot's stare was loud enough. He could tell that Hotshot wasn't expecting Wheeljack to believe him, but that he gave him what he asked for. And with that, Wheeljack walked out the door.

Wheeljack had been wandering aimlessly throughout the base for about forty-five minutes when the PA system activated with the speakers booming with Megatron's voice. "Attention, all Decepticons report to D-sector if you don't want to miss the show." Wheeljack ran back there as fast as he could.

"Everything's all set and ready to go, boss," said Cyclonus after he ran a maintenance check on some equipment.

"Excellent, Cyclonus," Megatron praised, "Now, all we need are the guests." Megatron chuckled as he observed Hotshot straining in his bonds. "You can struggle all you want, Autobot, but you're not going anywhere." Knowing Megatron was right, Hotshot resigned from his efforts of escape. Finally, the rest of the gang had arrived: Starscream followed by Demolishor, Thrust, Tidal Wave, and Wheeljack in the back.

"All right!" Cyclonus cheered, "Finally, we can get this party started," and he casted an evil grin toward Hotshot. Hotshot, however, was not paying any attention to Cyclonus. Instead, he was solely focused on Wheeljack. He kind of expected Wheeljack to come as close to the front as he could, but instead, the Decepticon kind of stood in the middle, closer to the back. There was something else, too. Hotshot could've sworn there was something different in Wheeljack's optics. However, he wasn't given much of a chance to figure out what it was, because then he felt the table start to vibrate a little and it made some kind of mechanical humming sound. Thus, his attention was immediately switched to Megatron, who was at the controls with an evil grin on his faceplate.

"Now," the Decepticon leader said darkly, "it's time for you to pay for all of the humiliation you've caused me." Hotshot could only breathe in and out fast breaths as he watched Megatron's finger push a button. The next thing he knew, his entire form was engulfed in a powerful voltage of electricity and he was screaming in pain.

Normally, Hotshot's screams of agony would've been music to his audio receptors, like they were last time; but, with all of the new information he found out, Wheeljack couldn't believe he was just standing there letting this happen. Little did he know that he wasn't the only 'Con feeling this way. Starscream thought if he watched the Autobot being tortured, it would reawaken something in him. He had witnessed a lot of prisoners being tortured, and, like any other Decepticon, he enjoyed watching an Autobot captive writhe in pain. But, it wasn't working. "Kinda' looks like somethin' from a movie, huh?" Demolisher asked.

"Yeah," Cyclonus agreed, "Speakin' of which, who's got popcorn?" Hearing that just made Starscream sick and want to bash their cerebral units out of their helmets. Suddenly, Hotshot stopped screaming for longer than a minute. All of the Decepticons observed that Hotshot was shaking and groaning in pain. He managed to lift his head and the first 'Con he saw was Wheeljack. Now, he could see what it was in his eyes that he saw earlier. It was pity.

Smiling, Megatron turned to Thrust, "Thrust, care to do the honors?"

"It would be a pleasure, sir," Thrust bowed, and he headed for the controls where he fetched a visor that fitted completely around the head.

"A mind scan!" Wheeljack gasped, "That'll kill him!"

"Oh, don't worry, Wheeljack," Megatron assured, "we'll make sure to stop before he's too far gone." Lucky for Wheeljack, Megatron mistook his outburst for concern that he wouldn't get the revenge he was promised. Hotshot, meanwhile, started struggling again. He had heard about the mind scan. The Autobots used it as a lie detector when interrogating Decepticon prisoners, but the Decepticons found another use for it. They found out that the mind scan could be used to download every bit of data a cranial unit contained. In other words, it could suck out whatever information a prisoner was trying to mentally hide, like a vacuum cleaner. However, if the person was subjected to the mind scan for too long, or if he wasn't in the best physical shape, which Hotshot wasn't thanks to his shock treatment, there was a high probability that the mind scan's power output could kill him.

"No," Hotshot pleaded as Thrust fitted the visor over his optics, "Don't." Hotshot shook his head this way and that, as if trying to shake the thing off, but it was secure around his head. Because the vision slit was so thin and the dark shade of red the glass was made of, Hotshot couldn't see very well. To him, this was as good as being in a completely dark room. Suddenly, he felt a little tingle that soon developed into a little headache; the mind scan was getting warmed up for the real assault. Hotshot started struggling again, which the Decepticons found amusing. "No," he started again as the pain in his head started to increase in intensity, "Stop it!" No one had noticed that Wheeljack was no longer in the room.

Just when the warming-up process was nearly complete, Hotshot gave a jolt when everything turned off. The lights, the machinery, everything just turned off. The Decepticons had a blackout. "I thought you said everything was in working order, Cyclonus," Megatron growled.

"I did, and I'm sure it was, sir," Cyclonus pleaded his case.

"Uh, it's possible that the main power generator failed, sir," Demolishor stepped up.

"Thrust, Cyclonus, Wheeljack- come with me to the main power generator," Megatron ordered, "Demolishor, Starscream, Tidal Wave- you see if you can get the auxiliary power on."

"What about the prisoner?" asked Tidal Wave.

"He's not going anywhere, now move," Megatron commanded, and everyone headed out, leaving Hotshot alone. He continued to try to free himself, but it was no use. He started hoping against hope that the other Autobots would be coming soon when he suddenly became aware of the sound of another mech's sparkbeat. Someone was still in the room with him. Suddenly, he felt the visor being removed, which was quickly followed by a hand covering his mouth when he nearly gasped in surprise. With the visor off, his optics got accustomed to the darkness within minutes, but he couldn't see the hand that clamped his mouth shut. He did, however, hear a quiet shushing sound. He nodded and felt the invisible hand lift off of his mouth.

"Who's there?" he quietly asked as he looked around and, on his left, Wheeljack uncloaked himself. "What're you doing here?" Hotshot asked.

"We've gotta hurry," urged Wheeljack as he started working on the middle clamp, "This blackout won't keep them busy for long."

"Why are you doing this?" Hotshot tried again as he worked on the top clamp now that his hands were free.

"Why do you think?" Wheeljack retorted while undoing the clamp that secured Hotshot's ankles, "I'm trying to help you, just as you tried to help me." Finally, Hotshot was free. "C'mon," Wheeljack said as he grabbed Hotshot's arm, and they took off.

The two were heading for the Warpgate as fast as they could. They were about halfway there when the lights turned back on. "We've gotta hurry," Wheeljack urged, "we're running out of time." Suddenly they heard someone coming. "Quick," said Wheeljack, "back here," and they took cover in a closet. Both of them hardly dared to breath, let alone move, when the footsteps got louder. They only came out when they were absolutely sure whoever was coming was gone.

However, shortly after that, they were spotted by Cyclonus. "Hey, Wheeljack what's-" Cyclonus got cut off when Wheeljack aimed his gun at him. Cyclonus dodged the blast just in the nick of time, and fired some blasts of his own; but the two escapees rounded a corner and disappeared from view. "Man, I don't believe this," Cyclonus as he pressed a button. The alarm started blaring throughout the compound. Wheeljack and Hotshot really had to hurry now.

"There they are," they heard Thrust from behind them, "Fire!" and they were strafed by laser fire. Hotshot took out his gun and fired back at the pursuing Decepticons, causing a wall to fall on top of them.

"Keep moving," Wheeljack urged, "We're almost there."

"Right behind ya," Hotshot acknowledged.

"Stop them," Thrust shouted from behind, "don't let them get away. Finally, they made it to the Warpgate, where they came face to face with Starscream. Wheeljack was about to grab his gun when Starscream held up his hand.

"I know what you're up to, and, I promise, I won't stop you," the Decepticon stated.

Wheeljack kept his weapon trained on Starscream, "Then why are you here?"

"In case you needed help or something," was Starscream's reply. The two locked gazes, and Wheeljack knew what he had to do.

Suddenly, every single Decepticon heard Starscream scream in agony. They rushed to the Warpgate. There, they found Starscream lying on the ground with a bad laser wound in his side. Megatron approached him. "What happened? Where did they go?" he demanded. Starscream could only point to the Warpgate before he lost consciousness.

On Earth, the Autobots were going over their rescue plan when the intruder alert went off. Someone was trying to warp into the base. "Everyone, to the Warp Room, on the double," Optimus commanded.

The 'Bots only had to wait a few minutes until the intruders warped in. "Hotshot!" Smokescreen exclaimed when he saw the yellow mech.

"Hotshot, get back," Jetfire called as he and the others trained their weapons on Wheeljack.

"No!" Hotshot said as he stepped in front of the Decepticon, "If you want him, you'll have to go through me." When his comrades gave him confused looks, Hotshot elaborated, "Wheeljack's the reason why I'm here and am alive." Then, Optimus lowered his gun, with the others following suit, and approached the two mechs.

"Somehow, I get the feeling that we've got a lot to talk about."

Later, in the Command Center, Wheeljack and Hotshot filled the 'Bots in on what had happened since Hotshot's abduction, down to the part where Starscream silently convinced Wheeljack to shoot him so Megatron wouldn't suspect he let them walk away. Sideswipe, meanwhile, was keeping his optics focused on Wheeljack and his hand on his blaster, just in case the Decepticon tried something. "And, that's our report, sir," Hotshot closed.

"I see," Optimus nodded, and he turned to Wheeljack. "So, Wheeljack, now that you know the truth, what are you gonna do now?"

"To tell you the truth, Optimus," Wheeljack replied, "I don't really know."

"Why don't join up with us?" Rad asked, "You were an Autobot once, why not be one again?"

"Yeah," Carlos agreed, "I'm sure if any Autobots are skeptical about it, Optimus can sort things out and drop the charges and all, right Optimus?"

"Well," Optimus thought aloud, "chances are it won't be that easy, but if that it is what you want, Wheeljack, we can work something out." Wheeljack could hardly believe his audio receptors. Some of the Autobot team were actually willing to give him another chance and let him into their ranks? While Wheeljack pondered his decision, Sideswipe was just as shocked. Let that creep into their midst? He couldn't believe it either. Optimus noticed that the usually talkative young 'Bot had been unusually quiet for the past ten minutes. "Is something on your mind, Sideswipe?" he asked, and Sideswipe proceeded with his case.

"Sir, I, for one, don't think it's a good idea that we trust this Decepticon just yet. Don't forget, this guy almost succeeded in killing both Hotshot and me once. In fact, how do we know this isn't some kind of trick, that he's not waiting for us to lower our guard to make his move?"

"Sideswipe!" Hotshot exclaimed, and would've approached his surrogate brother if Wheeljack didn't stop him.

"I don't blame you for not trusting me," said Wheeljack, "and I don't expect you to believe me, either. I just did what I had to do." Sideswipe, however, just glared spears at Wheeljack.

"Sideswipe," Jetfire spoke up, "we all know where you're coming from, but you gotta understand, Megatron took advantage of the situation Wheeljack was trapped in in the most despicable way possible. And, just like Starscream, he nearly paid the ultimate price for his loyalty to him."

"Right," Optimus agreed, "he was tricked into defecting to the Decepticons therefore, I believe Wheeljack deserves a second chance."

"Don't you guys remember what happened the last time we let a Decepticon into our ranks?" Sideswipe continued. "Just when we thought Starscream was ok, he stole the Skyboom Shield and turned his back on us."

"But Sideswipe," said Red Alert, "Starscream let Wheeljack and Hotshot use the Warpgate to make their escape. He let them go instead of trying to stop them." Sideswipe just growled in frustration. Just then, Wheeljack headed for the exit.

"Where are you going?" asked Scavenger.

"I think it's best that I leave. I need to go out on my own for a while," Wheeljack replied.

"Wheeljack, wait," Alexis called, "You don't have to go. If Hotshot thinks he can trust you, than I think I can, too."

"Yeah, me too," said Rad, "Besides, you belong with the Autobots, even though Megatron tried to change all that." Wheeljack paused for a moment.

"I appreciate the offer," he said, "but this is something I have to do, because I don't know where I belong anymore; I need to 'discover' myself." As Wheeljack continued on his way toward the exit, Hotshot followed him to 'escort' him outside.

Once they were out in the open, Hotshot asked, "When will you be back?"

After giving it some thought, Wheeljack turned to face him and replied solemnly, "I don't know," and he transformed to car mode.

"Wheeljack," called Hotshot, "thanks." Wheeljack gave an acknowledging sigh and drove off into the distance, beginning his 'vision quest'. As Hotshot watched his friend disappear in the distance, wishing the best of luck for him, Sideswipe was standing in the tunnel. He followed the two bots to make sure the 'Con didn't try anything. He wore an unconvinced frown on his face.

* * *

Next Chapter: Wheeljack returns. Will he rejoin the Autobots? 


	2. Coming Back

Three months. It had been three months since Wheeljack left to go out on his own after he saved him from the Decepticons. For the past twenty-five minutes, Hotshot had been laying on his recharge-bed in his quarters, trying to go into recharge, but he couldn't stop wondering what Wheeljack was up to. During the last few weeks, whenever he wasn't training with either Scavenger or Sideswipe, or working on the spaceship, he was standing on a peak outside, watching out for any signs of Wheeljack. "I hope you find whatever it is you're looking for, Wheeljack," he sighed quietly, and, finally, he drifted to sleep.

The next day, Hotshot was helping out on the construction of the spaceship. "Hey, Red Alert," he said to the 'Bot next to him.

"Yes?" asked the medic.

"Do you think Wheeljack will eventually come back?"

After thinking it over for a second, Red Alert replies, "I don't know; learning the truth of his rescue was quite a shock to him, you know."

"Yeah, no kidding. I still remember the look on his face when he approached me about it," replied Hotshot.

"Just try to be patient, Hotshot," said Red Alert as he placed a reassuring hand on the young mech's shoulder, " and try not to get your hopes up."

Grinning, Hotshot replied, "Don't worry, Red, I won't."

All of this time, Sideswipe had been listening to Hotshot and Red Alert's conversation. Not that he meant to eavesdrop, but it was difficult not to considering they were about sixteen feet from each other. He struggled to keep his temper in check and his mouth shut when the two talked about Wheeljack's possible return. 'Talk about being saved by the bell,' Sideswipe commented to himself when the Minicon alarm went off; maybe looking for the latest of the little mechs would give his mind something else to think about.

The new Minicon's location was discovered to be in a open rocky area. While Red Alert stayed behind at the base, the rest of the Autobots went to retrieve it. Just after the 'Bots were assigned their search groups, lasers started firing on them from above. Optimus immediately recognized Megatron's laugh. "Autobots, take cover," he called to his compatriots. "Decepticons, destroy them," Megatron ordered. As the two sides exchanged laser fire, Laserbeak and Cyclonus went in search of the Minicon.

At the base, Alexis noticed that something strange happened to the Minicon signal and started typing on the computer. "What's wrong, Alexis?" asked Rad.

"This is really weird, you guys. The Minicon signal just stopped," she replied.

"Huh?" Carlos gasped, "What do you mean, it stopped?"

"I mean it stopped; the scanner's not picking it up anymore," elaborated a little annoyed Alexis.

"Let me try something, Alexis," Red Alert steps in and types away on the computer console, but doesn't have much luck either.

"How did that happen?" asked Billy.

"To tell you truth, I'm not really sure," a baffled Red Alert confessed.

Out on the battlefield, after ten minutes of searching, Laserbeak returns to Optimus' side and bobs his head. "What is it, Laserbeak?" Optimus asked. It looked to him like the tiny mechanical bird was trying to tell him something. Suddenly, Rad's voice starts emanating from the little robot itself.

"Optimus, you're not gonna believe this, but that recent Minicon signal just stopped, our scanners are not picking it up, like it was never there," said Rad.

"That must've been what Laserbeak was trying to tell me," Prime realized, "Have you found out the cause yet?"

"The only thing I can think of is that someone must've already activated the Minicon, sir," announced Red Alert's voice.

"Thanks for the info, guys," said Optimus and Laserbeak took to the air.

"Just hand over the Minicon and we'll be on our way, Optimus," called Megatron.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Megatron, but we're too late," Optimus announced, "Someone's already activated the Minicon."

Megatron, however, laughed, "Do you really expect me to believe that pathetic story?" That earned Megatron some shots in the side and right shoulder from Hotshot and Sideswipe, who had triumphant grins shining on their faces. "You succeeded in nothing, but earning yourselves a death wish, Autobots," Megatron growled, "Leader 1, power-link," and the Minicon combined with the Decepticon leader, who fired his now turned-up cannon barrel at the Autobots. Optimus, Hotshot, and Sideswipe are thrown back and their cover is blown completely into dust.

"Optimus, Hotshot, Sideswipe," Blurr gasped. When the smoke clears, the three fallen 'Bots are covered in dents and scratches, but nothing serious and they begin to get up.

Jetfire runs to Optimus' side and asks, "You alright, sir?"

"Yes, I'm fine," replies Prime, "Now, what do ya say we link-up?"

"Yes, sir," Jetfire salutes, and the Autobot Commander merges with his second-in-command into his Jet Convoy mode.

"Ok, Autobots," addresses Optimus, "lets take 'em down."

"Not so fast, Optimus," called Megatron, "you will do as I say and hand over your Minicons, or your little friend here is history," he holds up a yellow and silver Minicon, who looks a little crushed, and all of the Autobots gasp.

"Oh no," exclaims Rad back at the base, "he's got Sparkplug!"

"Now what is Optimus gonna do?" asked Fred.

"I'm not so sure if there's anything else he can do, Fred, except do what Megatron says," replies Alexis almost hopelessly.

"He can't!" exclaimed Billy, "If the Autobots do that, the Decepticons will become too powerful."

"He knows that, Billy," said Carlos, "but Optimus doesn't really have a choice." The group hopelessly watches the situation on the screen, via Laserbeak, feeling totally helpless and defeated.

Feeling frustrated and defeated, Optimus gives in and commands, "Autobots, give them your Minicons."

"No, Optimus," a voice calls out. It takes a minute, but everyone soon realizes that the voice came from Sparkplug himself; the Minicon was actually talking in English, not the beeping language that his kind has been associated with.

"Sparkplug?" Prime gasped.

"Let him do what he wants," Sparkplug pleaded, "just don't obey him."

Back at the base, the kids and Red Alert are just as surprised as everyone at the battlefield. "Man," said Carlos, "that was totally unexpected."

"Sparkplug," said Alexis, " he. . spoke."

"He actually talked in plain English," stated Billy, "I didn't think the Minicons could do that."

Then, Alexis remembers something, " Wait a minute you guys; this happened once before." The boys and Red Alert give her confused looks.

"What do you mean, Alexis?" asks Red Alert.

"Remember?" asks Alexis, "When Megatron first had the Skyboom Shield as well as the Star Saber? He declared a decisive battle, and just when he was about to take Optimus down for the count, Sparkplug stepped up as a shield for him."

"Yeah, I remember," realizes Rad, "Then, Sparkplug announced in plain English that he had locked onto the shield, and he brought it up just in time to save them both."

"And now, it's happening again. This is so freaky," said Fred.

At the battlefield, Sparkplug continues to plead, "Please, Optimus, don't make the others sacrifice their freedom for me; remember what happened the last time Megatron took some hostages?"

Optimus, however, doesn't change his mind, "I'm sorry, Sparkplug, but I will not risk your safety."

"No-" the Minicon begs, but is cut off when Megatron squeezes harder and he groans in pain.

"Quiet!" Megatron orders to the Minicon, and turns his attention back to Optimus, "My patience is running thin, Optimus; either you hand over the Minicons now, or you and your men get front row seats to watch me crush your partner like tinfoil." Then, as if to prove his point, he tightens his grip and Sparkplug screams in pain.

"I'm sorry my friends," Optimus said to the other Minicons, "go ahead."

The remaining Autobot Minicons start walking over to the Decepticons when a voice calls out, "No, that won't be necessary." As the 'Bots and 'Cons try to locate the source of the voice, a laser hits Megatron's hand and Sparkplug's flung into the air. As the Minicon falls to the ground, a gray hand catches him. Everyone can hardly believe their eyes when they spot the one who was responsible for the whole commotion- Wheeljack. "You might wanna get out of here," he said as he put Sparkplug down, "things could get ugly," and the Minicon ran to Optimus' side.

"Wheeljack, you traitor," Megatron growled.

"If there is one leader here who I've betrayed, it's Optimus, Megatron, not you," proclaimed the dark gray-blackish mech in a low voice.

"I saved your life all of those years ago, and this is the thanks I get?" said Megatron.

"That rescue was a lie, Megatron," Wheeljack growled, beginning to lose his cool, "just like everything else was in my life as a Decepticon; you took me in when I was both physically and emotionally vulnerable, and you knew that. Plus, you tricked me into hating the one person who was the first friend I ever had and treated me like one in return."

Even though he didn't mention his name, Hotshot knew Wheeljack was referring to him and he grinned as he said to himself, 'You tell 'im, Wheeljack.'

"And, you believed me, Wheeljack, you trusted me; why not trust and believe in me again?" Megatron asked.

After a short pause, Wheeljack reflects, "It's true; I did trust you," then presents his answer, "but that's in the past. I was a fool to trust you."

Megatron tries to win over Wheeljack again, "I gave you power you could only dream of at the time; you owe me your life."

"You gave me nothing and made me give up everything I had," Wheeljack shouted, "therefore, I owe you nothing." A pause follows Wheeljack's proclamation and he adds, "I would rather die than kill Hotshot."

With a scream of rage, Megatron aims his barrel at Wheeljack, "So be it," and fires. Wheeljack, however, jumps and avoids the blast and the two armies fight.

Megatron throws Wheeljack to the ground with a punch, rendering him unconscious. He approaches the mech. "Now," he said dangerously, "I'm going to do what I should've done years ago," and he aimed his cannon at him. However, he earns a shot in the back from Hotshot.

"You leave him alone, Mega-moron," demands the Autobot, "You've messed up his life enough already."

"How dare you interfere with me," Megatron growls and rams into Hotshot, pinning him against a wall. He grabs hold of Hotshot's neck with his right hand, lifts him up along the wall, and squeezes. "I've had just about enough of you getting in my way," said Megatron as Hotshot struggles in his grasp, trying desperately to pry the hand off. Meanwhile, Wheeljack wakes up to see Megatron strangling Hotshot.

"No," he says quietly enough that Megatron doesn't hear him, "Hotshot." Just then, Hotshot's hands drop to his side. "Wind Sheer!" calls Wheeljack, and a small dark gray-blackish and red jet streaks through the air and power-links onto Wheeljack's back. With the help of his Minicon partner, Wheeljack streaks into Megatron's side, and Hotshot falls to ground, coughing and rubbing his throat.

"That's two I owe you," he said in a raspy voice.

"Who's counting?" said Wheeljack as he kneels down.

"Your little friend there wouldn't happen to be the same Minicon we came here for, would he?" Hotshot pointed to the Minicon now on Wheeljack's shoulder.

Wheeljack chuckles, " This is Wind Sheer, my new partner." Wheeljack notices Megatron's getting up. Wind Sheer power-links back up with him, and, grabbing Hotshot, takes to the air just as a blast misses them, leaving a surprised Megatron in his wake.

"He must've found the Minicon first," he mused, " Decepticons, withdraw at once," and he warps out, followed by the other Decepticons.

"So that's why the Minicon signal went dead," realized Alexis after seeing the action on the viewscreen, "Wheeljack activated the Minicon before anyone could find it."

"Gotta admit, that ability Wheeljack's new Minicon gives him is slammin'," commented Carlos.

"Yeah, literally," chuckled Fred.

Back at the battlefield, Wheeljack lands on the ground and Wind Sheer detaches from him and takes a seat on his new partner's shoulder again. "Thanks for the help," said Hotshot.

Wheeljack nods and hears Optimus call, "Wheeljack."

"Yes?" asked Wheeljack, not sure of what to expect.

"I was just wondering, have you reached a decision yet?" asked Optimus.

A pause follows before Wheeljack finally admits, "Not really, Optimus; I still need some time to think on this," and he begins to leave the group.

"Still need some time?" asked Blurr, "You've been 'thinking on this' for three months."

"Yeah," agreed Jetfire, "I'd say it's about time you should have your mind made up."

"If it's acceptance back into the Autobot ranks as a whole that you're worried about, Wheeljack," said Scavenger, "like Optimus said, we can work something out."

"Right," said Optimus as he approached the dark gray mech, "So, what's it gonna be, Wheeljack?" Wheeljack looks at the bots around him and sees the encouragement written on their faces, except for one- Sideswipe, who had skepticism on his features, then nodded.

'Probably because someone gave him a dirty look that made him think twice,' Wheeljack thought to himself, but decided not to push it. Finally, he faces Optimus and salutes, "I wish to come back into the Autobot fold, sir." A gentle glow seems to emanate from Prime's optics, making Wheeljack suspect that the Autobot commander was smiling at him, even though he couldn't see it.

Optimus salutes back, "Wish granted." Hotshot approaches Wheeljack and holds out his fist, earning him a confused expression on Wheeljack's face. Grinning, Hotshot takes Wheeljack's hand, forms it into a fist, and slaps it with his own fist.

"It's a little Earth custom we picked up from the kids," he explained, "They say it's like a sign of friendship, if that's ok with you?" Wheeljack could hardly believe his audio receptors. Hotshot wanted to be friends with him again? After what seemed like an eternity, a small, shy grin formed on Wheeljack's face, he nodded, and slapped fists with his old friend a few more times. Everyone started laughing, happy to see that the two 'Bots were friends again. It took a little while, but, eventually, Wheeljack joined in and started laughing. His laugh, however, wasn't the evil laugh he had developed that Hotshot had heard from the first time they met on Earth; it was the friendly, cheerful laugh that the yellow mech remembered from the past, before Megatron started this whole mess.

"Alright, men," said Optimus after he got a hold of himself, "let's head back to the base," and they warped out.

At the base, a thought came into Rad's head. "Hey, c'mon you guys, lets go," he said.

"Yeah, we've got both a new 'Bot and a new Minicon to welcome into the team," said Billy.

"Although, for Wheeljack, it's 'welcome back'," corrected Carlos, and they, Red Alert included, ran to go meet the others at the Warpgate.

Later that day, Wheeljack laid down on his new recharge berth in his new quarters. It had been an overwhelming day. However, despite seeing so many of the group willing to give him a second chance, he couldn't help but notice that Sideswipe was the only person who seemed less than enthused about accepting him into their ranks. " Just give 'im some time; he'll come around," Jetfire had advised him. Wheeljack could understand why Sideswipe didn't trust him, and didn't blame the young mech. He did, however, hope Jetfire was right. With a tired sigh, Wheeljack turned onto his left side and proceeded to go into recharge; he had an appointment with Red Alert to go over the plans for the spaceship in the morning so he would be able to help in its construction, and he had a feeling that it was going to be a busy day.

* * *

Next Chapter: Tensions continue to rise in the Autobot ranks asSideswipe refuses to accept the reformed Wheeljack. But, when the former Decepticon gets badly damaged in battle saving him, will the rookie get a chanceto apologize? 


	3. Conflict Within

Finally, I was given an opportunity to submit this third final chapter to this little trilogy. Sorry it took so long guys, finals were coming up, and so is graduation.

* * *

As he worked on his portion of the ship, Hotshot heard the doors hiss open. He turned to see Wheeljack walking in. "Good morning, Wheeljack," he greeted, "Recharge well?"

"Yeah, but that's the last time I'm putting in late night training," Wheeljack replied as he rubbed an optic, "I didn't get enough sleep last night."

Hotshot grinned and shook his head, "Tried to warn you."

"Aw, shut up," said Wheeljack as he shoved the yellow mech's head down in a playful manner. Before he could get to work, Wheeljack's com-link came to life.

"Wheeljack, come in," said Optimus' voice.

"Yes, Optimus?" Wheeljack replied.

"If you've got a minute, I'd like to see you in my quarters," the voice instructed.

"I'm on my way, sir," said Wheeljack, and he deactivated his com-link.

"What do you think Optimus wants with you?" a curious Smokescreen asked as he poked his head out from behind the ship's hull.

"No clue," answered Wheeljack, "I'll be back when we're done." When Wheeljack walked out of the room, Sideswipe silently let out a sigh of relief.

Optimus was going through some documents when he heard the door chime ring, "Enter," he called as he stood up from his chair, and Wheeljack walked in.

"You wanted to see me?" he asked.

"I did," Optimus nodded, "Wheeljack, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind participating in Hotshot's and Sideswipe's training sessions?"

As if by impulse, Wheeljack replied, "Not at all, sir."

"Good," Prime nodded again, "You'll start today, then."

"Yes sir," Wheeljack saluted.

Prime chuckled, "At ease, soldier, and dismissed," and Wheeljack left. However, once he was out of Prime's office he stopped.

'Stupid,' he said to himself as he slapped himself on the forehead, 'What was I think--that's just it, I didn't think; I just responded. Great, this is going to be an accident waiting to happen.' Knowing he couldn't go back into the office to tell Optimus he changed his mind just because he got cold feet, he walked back to the backside of the base.

Later that day, Wheeljack entered the room where Hotshot and Sideswipe were training. With a determined nod, he proceeded. "Hey, Wheeljack," Hotshot greeted him, "what brings you here?"

"Came here to train," Wheeljack simply answered.

"Really?" asked Hotshot, and Wheeljack responded with a nod. "Great," said Hotshot, "maybe after I'm done with you, Sideswipe can have his turn, then we'll finish off with all three of us at the same time." As Sideswipe walked to a wall to rest, Wheeljack stepped up in his place and they got started on their little sparring session. After fifteen minutes had passed, Hotshot and Sideswipe switched. As he passed him, Hotshot noticed that the young blue mech had a determined look on his face. As the two sparred, both Hotshot and Wheeljack noticed that, to Sideswipe, this wasn't training--this was a real fight. Sideswipe did his best, but Wheeljack emerged as the victor.

"Good moves," Wheeljack said as he offered his hand to help Sideswipe onto his feet.

"Thanks," said Sideswipe as he got up on his own. Four hours later, the trio decided to call it a day with the training and they went their separate ways around the base.

It had been about three weeks since Wheeljack came back to the Autobot fold. For Hotshot, it was like old times; but, he somehow had the feeling that there was still something bothering the dark gray-blackish mech. He also noticed that Sideswipe was still very suspicious of Wheeljack, which was no secret to anyone, especially Wheeljack. In a way, he couldn't blame him; Wheeljack did use him to get to Hotshot and almost got them both killed. He tried to get it into the young mech's cerebral unit to at least quit being so uptight and give the recruit a chance, but his words only landed on what the kids called 'deaf ears'. With a sigh, both out of fatigue and uncertainty of how to deal with his surrogate younger brother, he stepped into his quarters.

As he laid on his recharge berth, Sideswipe could think of little else but Wheeljack. While everyone else saw him as a returning Autobot, he saw him as a Decepticon just waiting for the right moment to strike. That's why he would follow him when he was with Hotshot, secretly or with an invitation, and even though it almost made his circuits sizzle; he didn't trust him to be alone with his bro'. 'Hotshot's always been there for me, especially when I needed him most, now it's my turn to be there for him; when that creep makes his move, I'll be ready,' he said to himself.

In his quarters, Wheeljack was also lying on his recharge berth. He had been that way for the past ten minutes, but to his Minicon, Wind Sheer, it felt like an eternity. In fact, sometimes, whenever he was done for the day, Wheeljack would come in, just lay down, and remain perfectly still and quiet. Wind Sheer sensed that whenever this happened, it meant his partner was thinking, but it bothered him to not know what Wheeljack was thinking about. On top of that, the complete silence would eventually get to the point that it unnerved him. Finally, Wheeljack reached for a remote, pushed a button, and a fast beat song came up on the speaker system in his room. Wind Sheer leaped into the air, somersaulted, landed on Wheeljack's left leg, which was propped up by the right one, and did a one handed headstand. Wheeljack couldn't help but smile, "Slick move there, little buddy."

One night, Wheeljack was in the main computer room, minding his own business, when the main screen came to life with a soft beeping tone and a squiggly line of some sort. He recognized the signal--it was the kind the Decepticons used. "Meeting at these coordinates," he deciphered, "Come alone." With a sprint, Wheeljack took off down the hallway towards the exit, but he didn't go unnoticed. While he was headed to his quarters, Sideswipe caught sight of Wheeljack running in the hall just ahead of him.

"Now where is he going in such a hurry?" he asked himself quietly, and took off after the former mech.

At a secluded area out in the desert, Megatron waited. He tried to wait patiently, but his patience was wearing extremely thin, especially with Wheeljack. For the past three weeks he had done nothing but fume over how Wheeljack betrayed him and vented his anger out on his own troops. Even when the tiniest smart-mouth remark or mistake was made, he'd totally lose it and send the unfortunate 'Con flying with a mighty punch that would render him unconscious anywhere from mere seconds to a matter of minutes. Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore--he had to find out what led Wheeljack to this decision, so he sent a message to Wheeljack at the Autobot Base. Just then, Megatron saw the dark gray-blackish form of Wheeljack's car mode approaching at top speed. Transforming to robot mode, Wheeljack grabbed his gun and aimed it at the Decepticon leader.

"There's no need for that, I'm not here to fight," Megatron said as coolly as he could with a wave of his hand. Personally, he wanted to blast Wheeljack to spacedust, however, he disciplined himself to not lose his temper. He came to talk, not to fight.

"How do I know you're not lying, you won't try anything, and that you came alone yourself?" Wheeljack demanded without faltering his aim.

"First of all, I don't need any of the other Decepticons to take care of such things as shutting you down for good," Megatron replied, "Second, you know me better than that, Wheeljack." Wheeljack knew Megatron was right; contrary to popular Autobot belief, Megatron was not a being without any sense of honor whatsoever. On a few occasions, especially where Optimus Prime was involved, Megatron had demonstrated that he was actually an honorable warrior. With that resolved, he put his gun away and they began to talk. Although, unbeknownst to either one of them, they were being watched by an uninvited guest.

It was hard, but Sideswipe managed to follow Wheeljack without being spotted. The young mech picked a large boulder on a hillside as his spypost. He felt his energon begin to boil when he saw Wheeljack with Megatron. "I knew that sleazebag was up to no good," he growled to himself. From his post, Sideswipe couldn't hear what they were saying, but seeing them together was good enough for him. Transforming to car mode, he took off back to headquarters to report what he saw. However, what he didn't see was Wheeljack pulling a gun on Megatron due to arriving just a minute after Wheeljack stashed the weapon.

"What caused you to have a change of heart, Wheeljack?" asked Megatron, " What made you change your allegiance so suddenly?" After a moment's hesitation for reasons unknown to him, Wheeljack responded.

"I was looking through some personal documents on my computer when I accidentally came across a High Class file. My curiosity got the best of me and I hacked into it. That's where and how I learned about your intentions for getting me to join the Decepticons. As for the so called abandonment, I took the liberty of paying our then prisoner, Hotshot, a little visit before you did."

"And you believed him?"

"Yes. Your report, his side of the story, the Autobot report of the same incident--it's just too coincidental to be a coincidence; and, I wouldn't bother trying to get me to change my mind with more lies if I were you."

Megatron nodded with understanding, he knew that the young mech had made up his mind and there was no way of getting him to change it.

"Where did you learn to hack?"

"A former Decepticon teammate taught me a few things."

"You do know that the humans have a saying: 'curiosity kill the cat'."

Wheeljack knew where Megatron was going, yet he still put on a mischievous grin and placed his hands on his waist in a cocky manner.

"But I'm not a cat."

Megatron took a moment to let out a short growl.

"Spare me the sarcasm, Wheeljack. You know what I mean."

"Yeah, whatever," Wheeljack sighed with a wave of his hand.

Megatron clenched his hand, he was now so tempted to blast the Autobot with his hip-cannon, but he held himself in check. Now that he had his questions answered, he turned to leave. However, after taking a few steps and just before Wheeljack was about to depart, Megatron turned to face him again. "I'll let you go this once, Wheeljack," he warned as he pointed a finger at the mech, "But, mark my words, I will destroy you the next time we meet in battle," and with that, the Decepticon leader warped out of the area.

"We'll see," Wheeljack said to no one in particular, except the spot where Megatron stood just a moment before. He transformed into car mode and raced down the path back to the base.

"What! Are you sure?" Smokescreen exclaimed when Sideswipe had finished telling the gathered group in the computer room what he saw.

"Positive," said Sideswipe, " I saw it with my own optics, Wheeljack's meeting with Megatron."

"Why would he be meeting with Megatron, Sideswipe?" asked Red Alert.

"Why else?" Sideswipe retorted as if that was a rhetorical question, "He's a spy, that's why; he must be meeting with Megatron to tell him what he's found out so far." While the other bots were discussing what Sideswipe encountered, Hotshot had a hard time believing what he was hearing. Wheeljack acting as a spy for Megatron? After all that Wheeljack had done for him?

'It can't be,' he said to himself.

"What do you think, bro'?" asked Sideswipe.

"Well . . . I. . uh," Hotshot struggled, but was saved from having to answer when Wheeljack walked in, and all of the optics in the room were on the dark gray mech. He noticed.

"What's goin' on?" he asked.

"That's what we'd like to know," said Blurr in kind of a low tone that instantly made Wheeljack very uncomfortable.

"What do you mean?" he asked nervously.

Smokescreen approached him, "How was your little meeting with Megatron, Wheeljack?" Wheeljack took a step back.

"Wha-? How did you know?"

"Let's just say a little blue bot told us."

Wheeljack looked beyond Smokescreen to see Sideswipe with his arms crossed in front of his chest. "What's going on here?" a voice asked. It was Optimus with Jetfire and Scavenger.

"To tell you the truth, sir," Smokescreen spoke up, "that's what we're trying to figure out."

"How do you mean?" Optimus inquired.

"Optimus, Sideswipe caught Wheeljack meeting with Megatron out in the desert about twenty miles away from the base," Blurr reported.

"Yeah," Sideswipe confirmed, "and he looked like he was in a real hurry when I saw him leave the base." Not at all liking what he was hearing, Optimus turned to the mech-in-question.

"Wheeljack, explain yourself," he commanded in a firm tone, the same one he used on Starscream when it was found out that the Decepticon had a meeting with Thrust right outside the base and was suspected to have surrendered the Skyboom Shield Minicons to the other side.

Wheeljack remained silent, for some reason unsure of what to do or say, but Jetfire interrupted the silence when he reminded, "Your commander gave you an order, soldier."

With a sigh, Wheeljack spilled his guts, "I was in here earlier tonight, when the main computer came to life with a cryptographic message. It was from Megatron. He wanted me to meet him at some area out in the desert and he wanted me to come alone."

"What did he want?" Scavenger asked with his hands on his waist.

"To talk," Wheeljack replied, then decided to elaborate, "He wanted to know why I switched allegiances so drastically."

After a pause, possibly out of confusion, Red Alert stepped in, "Why would he want to know that?"

"I don't know," Wheeljack shrugged, "probably going through one of those weird phases of his, I guess."

"Wheeljack," said Jetfire, "you realize that there was the possibility that the whole thing could've been a trap? Why didn't tell us about this message?"

"Like I said, he made it clear that he wanted me to come alone," the dark gray-blackish mech pleaded his case, "In fact, I'd say both Sideswipe and I are very lucky; if Megatron did happen to spot him, there's a very good chance that we both could've been destroyed on the spot." The said mech just quietly 'hrmhped' to himself, not at all believing what Wheeljack had said.

"If all Megatron wanted was to talk, why would he ask you to come alone?" the rookie asked with suspicion in his voice.

"He must've figured it was a matter that concerned only him and me," was Wheeljack's honest reply.

"Well," Optimus said with a nod, " I think that settles things, men, now why don't we go to our quarters and get some rest."

As everyone headed out of the computer room, Sideswipe walked close enough to whisper in Wheeljack's audio sensor, "I'm not finished with you yet," and disappeared down the hall. Hotshot, however, caught this transaction.

"I'll go talk to him, if you want," the yellow mech offered, but his old friend declined.

"I want him to trust me under his own free will, and, believe me, he will, eventually."

"I just don't understand, Wheeljack. It's been about five weeks since you moved in. You'd think he would've at least _started_ getting over this little grudge of his."

"Hey, don't worry about it. Just give 'im some more time. In a way I can't blame him for his attitude; when we first met it wasn't exactly in the most 'friendliest' of terms."

"But that's no excuse for his attitude. After all that you've done, he doesn't have a reason to suspect you for every little thing that goes wrong, or looks even remotely suspicious."

"He's just trying to look out for you and the team, Hotshot. He looks up to you, just like a certain other rookie-bot I used to know."

Facing Wheeljack and seeing the mischievous smile on his face, the corner of Hotshot's mouth lifted up, showing a shy smile. They both remembered that time all too well--the time when Hotshot was first put in charge of a newcomer, Wheeljack, who seemed to have potential, but no battle experience. Hotshot recalled how excited and proud Wheeljack mentioned he was that his mentor was the very bot he heard so much about and admired. It was a real honor to him. Finally, the two exited memory lane and went into their quarters. Although, as soon as he laid down on his recharge berth, Wheeljack's thoughts continued down into his past. He noted as Hotshot helped him hone his skills, the two had become really good friends who thought nothing could ever tear their friendship apart because on the day they first met they vowed they would always keep that bond between them. Then came the day when he was stupid enough to believe that his best friend would actually leave him behind, leave him to die like everyone else did.

The next morning, everyone who was scheduled to work on the spaceship reported for duty; Hotshot, Wheeljack, and Sideswipe included. Hotshot tried to keep a weary eye on the blue mech and work on his portion of the ship at the same time, but it was proving to be difficult to focus. Red Alert had already corrected him on three separate occasions. "Hotshot," the medic called as he approached the yellow mech, "I wonder if I could have a word with you in private?"

"Uh, sure," Hotshot replied, and he put down his tools. Following Red Alert, Hotshot and the medic went to the far end of the room, where Red Alert could still keep an eye on the ship's construction and their conversation wouldn't be overheard so easily.

After taking a moment to look the yellow mech in the optic, Red Alert asked, "What's up with you today, Hotshot? I know mechanics is not exactly your forte' but you're better than this."

"It's Sideswipe that's with me today, Red Alert," Hotshot sighed, "He's been more than a handful ever since Wheeljack joined us." Red Alert nodded in understanding. Just like Hotshot, he knew the young mech had this idea in his head that Wheeljack's presence among the Autobots was not as sincere as he was letting on. "I tried telling him to give Wheeljack a chance, but he either doesn't listen or chooses not to," Hotshot continued, "I just don't know what to do with him any more, and I've got a feeling that it's only going to get worse."

"Have you asked Optimus to talk to him?"

"No, I haven't. I was afraid that that might be a little too harsh, considering he hasn't done anything stupid enough to even earn that." Suddenly, they heard a crash coming from the vicinity of the ship. "What the-?" asked Hotshot, and the two bots ran towards the other side of the ship where they met up with Blurr.

"Blurr," called Red Alert, "what in the world's going on here?"

"Sideswipe pounced Wheeljack and now they're at it," growled the blue and white sniper. Looking at the floor, Red Alert and Hotshot discovered Blurr wasn't kidding--Sideswipe and Wheeljack were rolling around with Sideswipe trying to stay on top of Wheeljack while the grayish-black mech was trying to get the rookie off. Smokescreen, meanwhile, was trying to separate the two while Blurr and Hotshot tried to pull Sideswipe off and Red Alert tried to get Wheeljack away from his attacker.

The gang just managed to get the two apart when a familiar and commanding voice rang throughout the room, "What's going on?" It was Optimus with Jetfire. When no one responded, the Autobot leader tried again, "Somebody better talk to me," and he narrowed his optics. It was obvious to the others that his patience for an answer was running a tad bit too thin.

"Sideswipe jumped Wheeljack, sir," Smokescreen finally replied.

"I saw him about to put a box in the tool cabinet," Sideswipe immediately spoke up before Optimus could say anything, "I thought it might be a bomb or something."

"You mean this box?" Blurr asked holding up the box in question, and the sniper knew the answer from the confused look on the rookie's face, Sideswipe recognized it. "This 'bomb' is Smokescreen's toolbox," Blurr clarified.

"I was wondering where this walked off to," said Smokescreen as he took the box from Blurr's hands.

"Sorry," Wheeljack apologized, "when I suddenly didn't see you anywhere I thought you were done for the day or something, so I put it away, or at least I tried to," as he turned to face Sideswipe.

"I appreciate what you _tried_ to do Wheeljack, but, first of all, the reason for my 'disappearance' was because Blurr had asked me for help in the ship's hull, and second, I don't keep my tools in the tool cabinet," Smokescreen said with a friendly smile, and Wheeljack replied with an embarrassed grin.

"Alright people," said Jetfire, " party's over, let's get back to work," and everyone scrambled to get back to their stations.

"Sideswipe," Optimus called, "during your break, I expect to see you in my office. Understood?"

Nervously, the blue mech replied, "Y-Yes. Yes, sir," and got back to work.

While he was waiting for his subordinate's arrival, Optimus stood behind the desk in his office with his hands behind his back and facing the wall. He finally just finished looking over some files, and now he was trying to think of how to reprimand Sideswipe. His train of thought was interrupted by the door chime ringing. "Enter," he called, and was not disappointed to find Sideswipe walking through the doors.

"Reporting to your office during break session, as ordered, sir," the young mech saluted.

Optimus nodded, said, "At ease," and got right to the point of the meeting as soon as Sideswipe put his hand down.

"I don't know what exactly brought all of this on, but it stops now."

"I'm not sure what you're referring to, sir."

"I'm referring to the shaky relationship you seem to have with a certain teammate. Or am I wrong? Tell me I'm wrong and I'll apologize right now."

Looking at his feet, the rookie shook his head. There was no use in even trying to hide it now.

"I thought so. Sideswipe, I understand that you and Wheeljack had, as the humans say, a 'rocky start' when you two first met, but he's back on our team now."

"Sir, I just think that there's more to his resignation than what we know. I mean, what if it's all some kind of trick to get us to lower our guard or something?"

"If it does turn out to be a ruse, I will take full responsibility, and your suspicions do not excuse your unnecessary hostile attitude towards Wheeljack. In fact, that's the second time that you've attacked Wheeljack because your emotions got the best of you."

Realizing that he was unintentionally beginning to raise his voice, Optimus calmed himself down and continued with his lecture.

"Sideswipe, there's a big difference between caution and paranoia, and you're bordering on the latter, which can not only make you a danger to the team, but to yourself as well. I know I can't force you to trust or respect Wheeljack, and I'm not asking you to, for I probably understand better than anyone else that those two things have to be earned. Yet, part of the problem I see here is that you're not bothering to put your prejudices aside long enough to even give Wheeljack a chance to prove himself to you. Plus, if this team is to fully function, we can't be going at each other's throats."

After all that, Optimus, for a reason unknown even to him, decided now was a good time for a pause and he sat down in his chair. Although, now that he thought about it, maybe the reason why he paused is because he wanted to give the young mech some time to get all of that sunk into his head. "Sir?" Sideswipe inquired, and Optimus stood back up.

"Sideswipe, I'm afraid I can't let your actions go unpunished any longer," the Autobot leader began, "which is why I've thought long and hard about a firm, but fair penalty, and this is what I've decided: you are confined to the base for the remainder of the week--no joy rides, no battles, no nothing. I'll inform Hotshot that your training is also restricted to the base."

Sideswipe gave his commander a surprised look, that meant he was going to be stuck in the base for five Earth days.

"I'm only going to give you this fair warning once, Sideswipe--if you so much as open any one of the outer doors, I will not hesitate to extend your punishment to being confined to your quarters for another week. Understood?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, you're dismissed."

Sideswipe saluted, and made his way to the door, but before he could exit, Optimus called to him again.

"One more thing Sideswipe."

"Yes sir?"

"The next time you decide to play 'Detective', please, try to back up your remarks with proof," the Autobot commander asked in a pleading tone, as if in attempt to lighten the mood that had settled in the room.

"I will," Sideswipe replied, "Anything else, sir?"

"No Sideswipe, that'll be all," said Prime, and the rookie headed out.

The next day seemed to pass by way too slowly for Sideswipe. He was the type of bot who couldn't stand being cooped up all day, let alone three. True, Optimus made a point that they had to keep themselves hidden from public view and the best way to do that was to stay in the base, but, as long as they stayed near the base or not let the humans see them in their robot forms when they went out in public, they were allowed to go outside. Staying in the base for days on end, without even one window to allow some sunlight, could get pretty dull after a while. Sideswipe couldn't figure out how bot's like Red Alert could stand it. Now, due to his punishment, the only sunlight he could observe was on the computer screen from one of their security cameras. However, it wasn't the same as feeling the warmth of the sun's rays on his hood during a short drive. 'These are going to be some loooong four remaining days', he thought to himself.

Later that week, around mid-morning, the quiet of the desert was broken by the revving of an engine as a blue sports car leaped off a cliff-side with a, "Yeee-hoo," and landed with thud. Sideswipe continued driving through the countryside, as happy as a hare in a field full of clover. Finally, the term of his penalty was over; the five days had passed. He had to admit that there were some times where he felt tempted to sneak a peek outside, but immediately thought the better of it for fear of getting caught and reprimanded again. Since he was having a hard time coping with staying in the base for five days, he knew chances were he'd go practically insane if he had to stay in his quarters for a whole week. Although, Smokescreen and Hotshot, even Blurr, kind of helped keep his mind off of counting down the days on the calendar and the hours, minutes, and seconds on the clock by either talking or playing card games with him during their free time. Afterall, Optimus my have banned him from going outside, but he didn't say Sideswipe couldn't do those activities. However, though the punishment did make him more mindful of not forming unfounded allegations without solid proof, it did not change the way he felt about Wheeljack. Therefore, when he got back and found the blackish-gray mech at the door, he gave the 'guard' a bit of a harsh look as he walked back inside. That's when the Minicon alarm went off and everyone rushed to the Command Center as fast as they could make their legs go.

"Where's the Minicon, Red Alert?" asked Optimus as he entered.

"It appears to be in a geographical location known as the Outback on the continent of Australia, sir," the medic responded.

"Wow!" exclaimed Carlos, "Australia? I've always wanted to go there. Can I go with you?"

"Sorry, Carlos, no can do," Jetfire apologized, "Maybe some other time, when there are no Decepticons to worry about." Carlos groaned. It was just too boring for him to just sit around at the base with nothing to do while his robot friends got to have all of the fun. He had to admit, he was beginning to really miss the 'old days' when he and the other kids could help them on the battlefield.

"Alright men, lets move out," ordered Optimus, and the Autobots followed him to the Warp Gate, all except Wheeljack and Red Alert.

"You go on ahead, Red, I'll stay here," Wheeljack volunteered.

Before the medic could protest, Optimus did it for him, "No, Wheeljack, I want you to come with us. Red Alert can take care of things here."

"But-"

"That's an order, Wheeljack."

With a defeated sigh, Wheeljack complied and joined the others. Optimus followed them, leaving Red Alert to keep an eye on the base and the kids.

A few minutes later, the Autobots were taking in the sights of the Australian Outback. "Boy," gasped Smokescreen, "just look at this place!"

"Yeah," agreed Hotshot, "I never knew that this place was so expansive!"

"We'll have time for sightseeing later," said Optimus, "right now we've got to find that Minicon. We'll have to split up and search in every direction possible." However, before the assigned groups could go in their assigned directions, a blast of laser fire exploded near their location--it was Megatron with the Decepticons. The Autobots immediately took cover behind anything they could get to. Wheeljack and Sideswipe ended up behind the same boulder.

"Man, your old friends never miss a beat, do they?" asked Sideswipe.

"Apparently not," answered Wheeljack, and the two returned fire. Suddenly, Wheeljack noticed something and called to Sideswipe, "Incoming!", pointing at a laser heading right for them. The two mechs managed to jump out of the way, Sideswipe to the left while Wheeljack leaped to the right, just before the stone was reduced to gravel. As he shielded his face from the debris, Wheeljack heard a very familiar, and annoying, cackle. 'I don't need three guesses to know who that is,' he said to himself as he spotted Cyclonus heading towards him.

"You can run, butchya can't hide, traitor," the helicopter chuckled as he opened fire on him. Transforming to car mode, Wheeljack dodged the strafing laser fire, but couldn't shake him. Reverting back to robot mode, Wheeljack grabbed one of his rifles and threw it towards Cyclonus. The rifle hit the Decepticon's rotor dead-on, causing him to cry out in pain and fall to the ground with metal-denting thud.

Wheeljack caught the weapon that came whirring back to him like a boomerang and called to the fallen Decepticon, "Hey, Blenderbutt, nice of you to drop in." Wheeljack was about to make his way back to the battlefield when a laser shot singed the exo-structure on his leg. He looked to the source and found Cyclonus trying to get up as his arm laser was aimed at him.

"You just made a big mistake, Wheeljack," Cyclonus said as he got to feet, and restarted his laser barrage.

Wheeljack just barely managed to avoid a shot to his shoulder as reached for his laser rifles, "No, Rotor-mouth, you did," and fired both simultaneously. Both shots hit their mark and Cyclonus was sent flying a good mile or two, "Guess I oughta thank Blurr for the marksmanship training," he said to himself as he took a moment to look at his weapons. Suddenly, he heard a call, looked up, and saw Megatron. Without really thinking about it, Wheeljack jumped back just before Megatron was about to descend on top of him, and felt a slight tremor when Megatron landed.

"I was beginning to wonder if you dared to show your face here," the Decepticon leader said with the deepest frown Wheeljack had ever seen as he summoned the Star Saber. Megatron charged toward Wheeljack with the sword ready for a downward strike and he brought it down with the intent to slice the former Decepticon in half. However, Wheeljack waited until the last possible moment to step aside, catching his former leader off guard, and threw in a cross-upper cut-sidekick combo. Megatron fell to the ground on his back, a little dazed for a minute and with dents, courtesy of Wheeljack, but otherwise not out. In fact, now he was really ticked off. After the two took a moment to just glare at each other, Megatron called out, "Thrust, throw me the Requiem Blaster."

"Yes, sir," Thrust called as he passed over in jet mode, and threw the gun to Megatron, who deftly caught it and aimed it straight at Wheeljack. Wheeljack barely succeeded in dodging the blasts and knew he couldn't keep it up much longer when he remembered he still had his laser rifles out. Out of what felt to be pure instinct, Wheeljack shot a blast from one of his guns, hitting Megatron's wrist, thus blasting the Requiem Blaster right out of Megatron's hand. Just when Wheeljack was about to fire another round, Megatron grabbed something from a compartment in his waist and threw what looked like a little metallic ball at his present combatant. As the ball flew, it unwound and expanded into a long tentacle that wrapped itself completely around Wheeljack's body, from his shoulders to his ankles, causing him to drop his laser rifles in the process. Losing his balance, Wheeljack fell onto his side with a grunt. With his quarry secure, Megatron walked to where he left the Star Saber, and pulled it out of the ground. Wheeljack struggled against his restraint to free himself as he tossed and turned from one side to the other; if Megatron were in a better mood, he would've found it rather amusing to watch Wheeljack try in vain to escape and wiggling around like a worm as he approached him. When he reached him, Megatron took a moment to give Wheeljack another glare that would've killed him on the spot if it were a weapon. Wheeljack stopped squirming when Megatron's shadow casted over him and looked up, waiting for he-didn't-know-what. Megatron bent over, grabbed the coil closest to Wheeljack's feet, and, with a yell, threw the bot toward the leftside of a ravine. Wheeljack hit the cliffside real hard and tumbled down to the bottom, crashing and bumping into a lot of edges along the way. He let out a loud, harsh gasp from having the wind knocked out of him when he fell to the ground. As Wheeljack lay there, gasping for air, Megatron approached him, and kicked him towards the center of the path leading into the ravine. Wheeljack knew Megatron wanted him dead, but right now he was torturing him--he wanted him to suffer for rejoining the Autobots. Megatron once again approached Wheeljack and placed the very tip of the sword on his throat, causing Wheeljack to, upon instinct, instantly freeze.

"I promised you that when we next met I would destroy you, Wheeljack," Megatron said in a low and dangerous voice, "Did you really think you could escape my wrath that easily?"

"The thought . . . crossed my mind," Wheeljack replied as he continued his struggle against his bonds.

"Don't even bother trying to escape," said Megatron, "You know that that's a Restraining Coil; it immediately immobilizes it's target by tightly wrapping itself around it. Once you're caught, there's no hope of breaking free on your own." Wheeljack knew Megatron was right. He also knew that the only ways to get free from the device was when either a release signal was sent to the Coil's main control panel, or a special laser was used to cut through it. Megatron renewed the pressure on Wheeljack's neck and placed his right foot on the bot's chest to hold him still. He clasped the sword's hilt with both hands and rose it toward his right side in a swooping motion, watching the fear build up in Wheeljack's optics. "I'll have your head as a personal trophy, TRAITOR!" he roared as he prepared to bring the sword down. Wheeljack turned his head and shut his optics tight, waiting for the death blow to come--but it didn't. He opened one optic and was quite surprised to find Megatron a few yards away from him, on the ground, and groaning in pain.

"This a private party, or can I join in?" a familiar voice asked.

"Scavenger!" Wheeljack called as he turned his head towards his backside in an upward angle to discover the light green and purple mech sliding down a slope that lead into the ravine.

"Hang on, kid," said Scavenger when he reached his young comrade, "I'll have you out fast," then, with Rollbar attached, he activated his Dozer Cannon. "Lucky for you my Dozer Cannon's equipped with the same frequency of the type of laser needed to cut through that thing," Scavenger informed Wheeljack as the laser cut through the coil like a knife through semi-warm butter.

"Thanks, big guy," said Wheeljack as the mech offered a hand and helped the young mech up to his feet, and the two climbed back up the ravine to join their comrades. They just managed to get over the edge when Megatron woke up.

'What hit me?' he asked himself as he rubbed the back of his head. He started to remember being hit by a powerful laser blast just when he was about to kill Wheeljack, "Wheeljack!" he gasped, and looked over to where he left off. Seeing only the empty remains of the Restraining Coil, the Decepticon growled in frustration and punched at the ground, leaving a small crater. "I'll get him next time," he said as calmed down a bit, there was a Minicon to be found and he had to get back to the battle.

The battle for the latest Minicon continued, neither side willing to give in. However, while trying to dodge a laser, Demolisher tripped over a rock. He managed to avoid the laser, but he also discovered the Minicon, he picked it up, and called, "Megatron, I've got the-ow!" only to have it shot out of his hand by Blurr.

"Jetfire, catch it!" Blurr called to the Autobot second-in-command.

"Got it," said Jetfire as he caught the panel.

"Decepticons, retreat," Megatron commanded, and all of the Decepticons warped out--all except for himself as he hid behind a giant rock pillar. "But, before I go," he whispered to himself, "I'll take this opportunity to get rid of a little pest," and he aimed his hip cannon at Sideswipe, who was on top of a cliff. Wheeljack noticed the cannon's barrel peeking out from the pillar out of the corner of his optic, recognized it as Megatron's, and saw that it was aimed right at Sideswipe.

"Sideswipe, look out!" Wheeljack shouted as he pushed the blue mech out of the way--only to be shot himself. Everyone felt nothing but shock at what they were seeing; it felt like everything was happening in slow motion. The shot had hit Wheeljack a little off center of his back, leaving a really nasty wound that nearly took out his entire left side. Gasping and optics wide, Wheeljack fell to the ground on his back with a crash.

"NOOOOOO!" shouted Hotshot, who ran to the cliffside and started scaling it. Within moments, he reached the top and ran to his old friend's side.

"Well," Megatron smiled as he watched, "It's a bit of a shame that I won't get to have even a finger to take back as trophy, still everything turned out alright," and he warped out, but not before he was spotted by Jetfire.

"Megatron," he growled under his breath, "you're gonna pay for that, big time." Back on the cliffside, Hotshot gathered Wheeljack's upper torso as gently as he could into his right arm while he held his head in his left hand.

"Take it easy, buddy, you're gonna be alright," he said quietly, more to comfort himself than anything else.

Groaning, Wheeljack turned his head to face Hotshot, "Hotshot," he said weakly, "I'm . . . s-so . . sorry . . . for all the trouble I caused you . . . when I arrived on Earth." That's when it hit Hotshot, the answer to what was bothering Wheeljack after he rejoined the Autobot team--he still felt bad about what he did to him when they first saw each other on Earth.

However, that didn't matter right now, "Don't talk," was all he could say. Meanwhile, behind Hotshot was Sideswipe with mouth agape and optics wide, he sat where he fell after Wheeljack pushed him in complete and utter shock, staring at the fallen mech.

'I . . don't . . believe it,' he said to himself as scenes from over the past few weeks started flashing in his head, 'After what I've done . . after how I accused him, he still took the fall for me.'

"Wheeljack," said Hotshot, bringing Sideswipe out of his daydream and, getting on his feet, he managed to get a look at Wheeljack's face. The mech's optics were flickering and starting to dim, not a good sign. "Wheeljack, hold on buddy," Hotshot begged, "Please, Wheeljack, you're gonna make it, just don't die on me, don't give up."

"Autobots, return to base," Optimus commanded with a heavy, sad voice, and the group warped out of the area. This was a troublesome victory for them. They'd won the latest Minicon, but were in danger of also losing a comrade.

Red Alert was waiting for the gang back at the base and wasted no time in having Wheeljack brought to the Repair Bay and getting to work on his latest patient. As the medic worked frantically to stabilize Wheeljack, the remaining Autobots and the kids watched from the observation deck. No one could take their eyes off of the operation that was going on below them. "Hey, do you think Wheeljack will be ok?" asked Fred.

"I'm pretty sure everything will turn out fine, Fred," said Rad.

"Wheeljack's tough," Billy agreed, "he'll be ok."

Alexis nodded, and Carlos spoke, "Yeah, Wheeljack will pull through, he . . he's got to." Finally, after working with various instruments and typing a lot of buttons, Red Alert breathed a sigh of relief. Noticing this, Optimus activated the com system.

"How's it going, Red Alert?"

"I've managed to stabilize his condition for now, sir."

"For now? You mean he could get worse?"

"Well, Megatron's laser did blast out a good chunk out of his side, plus he lost quite a bit of energon. A lot of the components are so badly damaged they'll have to be totally R & R'd."

"R & R'd?" asked Hotshot.

"'Removed and Rebuilt'," answered Red Alert, "Not only that, I'll have to rebuild his side from scratch, and even after all that, he's going to be in for a long recovery."

"Just do what you can, Red," said Prime, "We're counting on you."

Nodding, Red Alert got back to work.

Two hours after the group came back from Australia, it was getting dark outside and the kids headed home, the other Autobots got back to work on the spaceship, and Red Alert was still hard at work on Wheeljack. "C'mon, Wheeljack," said the medic, "I know you've had a rough life, but you can't give up, and don't you even think about giving up 'cause we won't let you, we haven't given up on you." It was getting late, and Red Alert was exhausted; as much as he didn't want to leave the job undone, Red Alert knew that he needed to get some rest, else he wouldn't even be able to do the job properly. After making sure that Wheeljack's condition was still stable, he walked through the doors, and found a rather tired Sideswipe leaning against the wall. This took him a bit by surprise. He thought all of the other Autobots had gone to their quarters for the night hours ago. "Sideswipe, what are you doing here at this time of night?" asked the medic.

"How's Wheeljack?" the rookie asked, "I couldn't sleep right without knowing."

After observing the look on the young mech's face, a look of sorrow and anxiety, Red Alert answered, "His condition hasn't changed, for better or for worse; he's still stable."

"Thanks," Sideswipe nodded, and headed down the hall with a tired medic behind him.

The next morning, while everyone worked on the spaceship, Red Alert worked where he left off on Wheeljack's repairs. The fact that Wheeljack's systems didn't crash during the period of the night gave him some relief, but he was not out of the woods yet, as the humans say. The morning was halfway over when Red Alert finished replacing Wheeljack's side, paint job and all. Now all that remained was for the patient to wake up and there was no telling when that was going to be. Walking up to the table where his comrade lay, the medic sighed, "I've done all I can for you old friend, the rest is up to you," and left the Repair Bay. Later, Red Alert returned to the Repair Bay to fetch a tool he forgot to bring with him, only to find Sideswipe at Wheeljack's bedside.

The young mech turned to face the medic, "Thought I'd come see how he's doing," he explained, and Red Alert nodded. Locating the tool he was looking for, he proceeded to the exit, then turned to Sideswipe when he noticed that the rookie didn't move.

"Aren't you coming to help with the ship, too?"

"Maybe later. I thought I'd stay here for a while, if that's ok?"

"Just don't disturb him."

"I won't, and thanks, Red."

Then, with a nod, Red Alert left the room. Sideswipe never came to help with the ship's construction, nor did he return to his quarters for the night, as Optimus discovered when he went to the observation deck to see Wheeljack and noticed that Sideswipe was still there, seated on a chair. Sideswipe remained by Wheeljack's side throughout the night and into the morning without even getting a wink of sleep because he was unable to power down. As he sat there, elbows on his legs and head down, he was so still he almost looked like a statue. Since he never left to even get energon, the others would offer to get him some when they were on their way to get some themselves. He hardly said a word to anyone, which was unlike his very talkative nature. Optimus tried to get him to get out of the room and do something active, for watching the usually hyperactive and cheerful Autobot so down was a depressing sight, but Sideswipe politely declined at every turn. Optimus figured that he knew why Sideswipe insisted on being at Wheeljack's side and, although he thought about telling the young mech that guilt was not going to help the situation, he still felt somewhat compelled to let Sideswipe do what he thought he needed to do, so he let him continue his vigil over their fallen friend. The kids dropped by to leave a 'get well' card they made and signed for their new friend. Once, during the third day since Wheeljack was incapacitated, Red Alert came by to check on Wheeljack's diagnostics, which hadn't changed much. As he was leaving, he paused and looked at Sideswipe, placed a comforting hand on the mech's shoulder, and quietly tried to reassure him, "He'll be ok". The only response he got was a nod, leaving the medic wondering if the rookie really believed him. The next day, during the afternoon, Hotshot stopped by. Even though he wouldn't admit it aloud, he was beginning to really miss the blue bot's company and was starting to get concerned about him.

"Hey."

"Hi, bro'."

"How's he doing?"

"No change."

"And, how about you?"

"To tell you the truth--miserable."

"Funny, from what I hear, that's all you've been for the past four days."

For a while there was a pause, then Hotshot couldn't take it anymore.

"Listen Sideswipe, no one's blaming you for what happened; it wasn't your fault."

Sideswipe clenched his fists.

"I can't help it, I . . I've been such an idiot for the past month or so."

Hotshot looked on with a question written on his face, then Sideswipe continued.

"I've been nothin' but a first class creep towards Wheeljack since the moment he arrived after he saved you from the Decepticons. I was so dead-set on not trusting him, just because of what happened when we first met. Man, how could I be so stupid!"

"Sideswipe?"

"I felt so sure that it was all a trick, so, since no one else was going to keep an eye on him, I did. If he did try something, I wanted to be ready. Optimus was right, everytime I saw Wheeljack do something that I thought was suspicious, I let my emotions get the best of me and attacked him, verbally and physically."

Suddenly, Sideswipe got to his feet so fast, he was a blur of blue, and punched the wall, surprising the heck out of Hotshot, who wasn't expecting that at all.

"What a jerk I've been," said Sideswipe, "I can't do anything right."

Walking up to his surrogate brother, Hotshot placed a hand gently on Sideswipe's shoulder, causing the young mech to look at him.

"That's not true, Sideswipe. Don't be so hard on yourself."

Sideswipe looked down at the floor as he removed his fist from where he punched the wall, leaving a good dent in it's wake.

"Sides, look at me," Hotshot commanded in a firm tone, and Sideswipe looked up to meet his 'brother's' face. "Like I said, no one's blaming you but yourself. What happened to Wheeljack back in Australia wasn't your fault, you know that."

"Yeah, I know it, but I don't believe it. I screwed up; I had no real reason to give Wheeljack such a bad time, and now we're gonna lose him."

"No we're not, Red Alert won't let him go without a huge fight first."

Another pause followed before Sideswipe broke the silence.

"I just wish I could make it up to him somehow, you know, at least get the chance to apologize and, maybe even a chance to start over."

"You will."

Hotshot stayed in the Repair Bay with Sideswipe, joining him in his vigil, for another half hour when he stretched.

"I think I'm gonna head to my quarters for the night, can I getchya anything?"

"Some energon would be nice."

Ten minutes later, Hotshot came back with a can for Sideswipe. "From what I've heard it's been a while since you had a decent recharge, maybe you should be heading back to your room, too," Hotshot commented as Sideswipe opened the can and took a sip.

"Yeah, maybe," Sideswipe agreed, though Hotshot had the nagging suspicion that the rookie wasn't going anywhere.

"Night, Sides."

"G'night, bro'."

Later that night, for the first time since Wheeljack was allowed visitors, Sideswipe found himself actually looking at him in the optics. He looked so still, so peaceful, Sideswipe could've sworn he was just recharging. "Wheeljack, wake up," he found himself pleading quietly to the fallen mech, as if he could hear him, "C'mon, buddy, you gotta wake up. There're some things I wanna tell you, so much I want to explain. But, most of all, I want to apologize." Silence settled in the room once more. Twenty-five minutes later, Red Alert came in to check on Wheeljack when he noticed Sideswipe sleeping in the chair where he sat. The rookie didn't even stir when the doors hissed open a second ago.

'Poor kid,' the medic said to himself with a sympathetic smile and a shake of his head. Deciding against his better judgement, he left Sideswipe alone to get some much needed rest and tended to Wheeljack as quietly as he could. When he was done, he left the room without a sound.

The next morning, Sideswipe found himself waking up and feeling a little groggy. At first, he wasn't sure where he was, until the memories from the night before started coming back to him. 'I must've dozed off in here,' he said to himself as he groaned and rubbed his optics when he heard another groan. Looking around the room, he located the source, "Wheeljack," and he trotted over to the table, "Can you hear me?"

His flickering optics starting to steadily glow blue, Wheeljack turned his head to where he thought he heard a voice, and saw the last person he thought he'd see by his bedside, "Sideswipe?"

"In the metal," Sideswipe replied with a smile.

"What happened and where am I?"

"You almost got your entire left side blasted out of you when took that shot from Megatron. You're in the ICU at the base."

"H-How long have I been out?"

"Four days."

As Sideswipe answered his questions, Wheeljack noted that there was patience in his voice and the dark tone was gone, but the one thing that he was the most perplexed about was the friendly smile on the rookie's face. This was not the same Sideswipe he remembered who, a few weeks ago, tried to take his head off when he thought he was implanting a bomb. He was about to ask something when the two bots heard the doors hiss open. "Well," Red Alert greeted, "nice to see that you decided to join your friends in the world of the living." Wheeljack would've chuckled at that, except, when he did, a jolt of pain erupted in his left side. "Sideswipe," Red Alert said to the rookie, "why don't you go spread the word that Wheeljack's awake while I check on his prognosis."

"Okey-dokey, Red," and Sideswipe took off out of the Repair Bay.

When the doors hissed closed, Wheeljack asked the medic, "Did that kid take a bonk to the head during our latest mission in Australia or something?"

Red Alert chuckled, "No, but he did take it pretty hard when you went down saving him." Slowly, but surely, Wheeljack started to remember as Red Alert looked over his systems.

"Yeah, Megatron's cannon was aimed right at him. I got to him and pushed him out of the way when I felt the blast in my backside. The next thing I remember is seeing Hotshot's face and then I blacked out again."

"Hmm-phmm, and after that, Sideswipe stayed by your bedside over the past few days."

"Really?"

Red Alert nodded and checked the scan of Wheeljack's internal structure that was loading onto the computer screen as a beam slowly went down the mech's body. Finally, the scan was loaded and the medic carefully studied the results on the screen.

"Hmm, it looks like you're out of the crisis point, but I 've got to admit, you sure gave all of us, especially Sideswipe, a good scare when you took that blast from Megatron."

"Believe me, Red Alert, I've been through worse."

"I'm sure you have, judging by that scar on your chest."

If Wheeljack had been human, he would've turned hot pink at that moment.

By that mid-morning, word of Wheeljack's awakening had spread throughout the base via Sideswipe. All of the Autobots visited Wheeljack either individually or in groups of two or three. Even the kids were glad to see that he was going to be all right. Although, out of all of his comrades, Sideswipe and Hotshot turned out to be Wheeljack's most frequent visitors while he was stuck in recovery for the next three days. During the course of these three days, another Minicon was discovered and Sideswipe had to join the recovery team. When he got back, he limped his way into the Repair Bay and Red Alert helped him onto a table. Apparently, the young mech took it upon himself to get back at a certain Decepticon leader for nearly killing Wheeljack and he amazingly succeeded--though not without taking a few 'licks' himself. "Well, it's not as bad as it looks, the damage is mostly just structural, but what you did back there had to be one of the craziest things I've ever seen you do, Sideswipe; you could've easily gotten yourself killed," the medic scolded as he grabbed the tools he would need to repair young mech, for he saw the whole thing via Laserbeak.

"Hey, chill out Red Alert," said Sideswipe with a cocky grin on his face, "it's just a scratch." However, as he tried to sit up, he only got as far as elbows when he felt a jolt of pain and he clutched his side with his right hand.

"Yeah, right," Red Alert sarcastically agreed, and got to work on Sideswipe's wounds. An hour later, Red Alert was done and ordered Sideswipe to rest up in the Repair Bay for the remainder of the day and left to report to Prime. Almost immediately, Sideswipe turned to face Wheeljack.

"Hey, Wheeljack."

"Yeah?"

"I . . I just want to say that I'm sorry. I've been a real jerk towards you ever since you joined the team. It's just . . I really wanted to believe that you were up to no good, and since you came here to kill Hotshot--. I guess the memory of being used as bait to lure Hotshot into that fire at the abandoned factory had hit me harder than I thought because when I saw you, all I could see was an enemy. I guess my emotions about that day got the best of me and that's why I couldn't trust you, let alone work with you. But, I promise, from now on things are gonna be different. So, I'm sorry for all of the trouble I caused you and the team."

"It's ok, really."

A short pause followed Wheeljack's acceptance of Sideswipe's apology. Then Wheeljack spoke up, breaking the rather peaceful quiet between the two, "Ta think, it took me nearly getting the crap blasted out of me to finally earn your trust." Sideswipe looked at him with an ambiguous look on his face, to which Wheeljack just smiled and chuckled. Finding the smile to be contagious, Sideswipe offered a smile and chuckle of his own. Pretty soon, the chuckles the two kept exchanging ended up turning into a good shared laugh. That is, until they both managed to regain some composure after half a minute or so.

"Yeah," said Sideswipe, picking up where their conversation left off, "I gotta admit, that was the last thing I expected you to do, what with all those things I said and all. Why did you do it?"

"We're a team, remember?" asked Wheeljack, "Teammates gotta look out for one another, right?"

"Right," Sideswipe agreed, "Thanks for saving me, Wheeljack."

"Heh, it was nothin'," replied Wheeljack, then, the two silently agreed that now would be a good time to get some sleep and powered down, unaware that they were being observed. Up in the observation deck, Hotshot, Jetfire, and Alexis, who was seated on Hotshot's shoulder, had seen the whole thing and were grinning at each other.

"Aww, I love happy endings," Alexis giggled.

"Yep, it almost makes me wanna shed a tear," said Hotshot.

"I'd say those two are gonna get along just fine, now," Jetfire agreed.

"Well, as much as I hate to, I should be getting home along with the boys," said Alexis as she looked at her watch. It was getting late in the day and her parents were going to wonder where she was if she didn't get home soon. Hotshot helped her down from his shoulder to the ground, and the girl ran down the hallway as she waved goodbye to her friends, who waved back.

The next morning, both Sideswipe and Wheeljack were given a clean bill of health from Red Alert, and the two of them went down to the bridge to help with the spaceship's construction. When Hotshot spotted Wheeljack working on installing a power circuit, he smirked as a thought came to his head. "Hey, Sideswipe," he called to his surrogate brother, "Ya sure you don't wanna pounce on Wheeljack over there, for all we know he could be installing a bomb." Sideswipe and Wheeljack looked at each other, then at Hotshot, and, the next thing Hotshot knew, he was being bombarded by tools that were being thrown at him, courtesy of the two mechs. Then, when he dared to look, he saw Wheeljack and Sideswipe coming at him, and he took off at a run.

"Grab that small laser, Sides, and set it on it's lowest setting," Wheeljack called to the mech behind him as he passed a counter with tools, and Sideswipe picked it up. Finally, Wheeljack tackled Hotshot to the ground, managed to get him turned onto his back, and pinned his bent arms to the floor. Sideswipe got on top of his 'brother', activated the laser, opened some panels on Hotshot's abdomen and sides, and placed the instrument inside. Then, Hotshot started laughing hysterically. If the laser were set on it's normal setting, it would cut through the wires in the bot's body, but, at it's lowest, it wasn't able to cut through anything; although, it was giving Hotshot a good 'tickle torture'.

"C-Cut it out you g-u-uys," Hotshot tried to talk as he laughed and continued struggling to get free, "That tickles."

"That's the whole idea," replied Wheeljack.

"Guys, help me!" Hotshot managed to call out, but the others were too busy laughing as they watched the show. "Stop!" Hotshot begged his torturers, "St-o-o-op i-i-it!" Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and somehow managed to wrestle his right hand out of Wheeljack's hand. He snatched the laser out of Sideswipe's hand, skidded it across the floor to the other end of the room, gently pushed the blue mech off of him, then turned and playfully tackled Wheeljack. In no time flat, the three bots were play-wrestling on the floor, with no real target in particular, except maybe Hotshot, pretty much laughing their head units off. The rest of the gang continued to watch the three grapple, unable to help but laugh themselves.

Optimus was the first one to calm himself down and he walked up to the trio, "Alright you three, break it up," he chuckled as he got the three bots to stop their little game, "You'll have time to roughhouse later, right now we've got a ship to complete."

"Yes, sir," said the three bots, who were still sitting or lying on the floor and grinning like 10-year old human boys. As they got back on their feet, everyone got back to their stations and to work. While he worked on his part of the ship, Wheeljack felt a great relief, as if a huge weight had been lifted off chest and conscience--he had finally earned Hotshot's forgiveness, and Sideswipe's trust, as well as the respect of all the Autobots and humans.

* * *

Please, tell me what you think. 


End file.
